Mexico Soccer

CIUDAD VICTORIA, MEXICO — A Mexican soccer player is alive and well after an eventful weekend that saw him get kidnapped and then escape around 24 hours later. Alan Pulido was taken by kidnappers while driving on Saturday night after leaving a party with his girlfriend in Ciudad Victoria, Mexico, according to the Guardian. The Olympiakos forward, 25, gained the upper hand against one of the abductors during a fight that saw him take the kidnapper’s .50 caliber pistol and a phone, the Guardian rep...

Donald Trump is the star of another soccer ad — only this time, it's a U.S. network using his words to pump up America's team. Fox Soccer is running clips from Trump’s speeches touting American strength in a promo ad for the U.S. and Mexico soccer match Oct. “We’re gonna have a little fun tonight. I love the Mexican people. They have amazing spirit.” Trump says in the ad.

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2018 World Cup Is almost underway and The Mexican team is having all out celebrations! About nine members of the team had a little farewell party before they head to Russia for the 2018 Fifa World Cup and reportedly had about 30 prostitutes with them at a private compound in Mexico. Do you think Mexico will win the title? Let us know in the comments below!

Mexican Liga MX team Club Tijuana decided on some topical half-time entertainment during their July 7 pre-season friendly clash with Costa Rican side CS Herediano. A number of budding young soccer stars lined up on the halfway line during the break in play before taking part in the “Neymar Challenge.” This saw the kids rolling around in feigned agony, much like the Paris Saint-Germain forward has been known to do . The Brazilian star had exited the 2018 World Cup the night before as his side wer...

Royal Dutch Airline KLM apologized Sunday night for a tweet Mexico Soccer fans found offensive. After the Netherland's 2-1 victory over Mexico on Sunday during the World Cup, KLM tweeted a picture of an airport departures sign with a logo of a man with a sombrero and mustache under the heading, "Adios amigos!" After backlash on social media, the airline apologized saying "In the best of sportsmanship, we offer our heartfelt apologies to those who have been offended by the comment."

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Wednesday it had sanctioned Mexican soccer star Rafael Marquez for allegedly serving as a front man for a suspected drug trafficker. Marquez, from the cartel-riddled state of Michoacan, played in Europe for club sides Barcelona and Monaco, and still occasionally captains the national team, having represented his country in four World Cups.

Celebrating Mexico supporters carried a Korean man on their shoulders in Los Angeles on June 27, following South Korea’s surprise win over Germany at the World Cup, which ensured Mexico’s passage to the last 16, despite a 3-0 defeat by Sweden. With both games kicking off simultaneously, Mexico fans had gathered at Plaza Mexico in Lynwood to watch the drama unfold on a big screen. Despite their own disappointing result, they erupted in cheers when South Korea scored two late goals, condemning defendi...

Jubilant Mexican soccer fans celebrate after their Olympic win against Brazil. Some burst into song after the the 2-1 victory Others were emotional. (SOUNDBITE) (English) MEXICAN FAN JORGE FROM TIJUANA, SAYING: "Oh my god, I've been crying for a while but I don't want my kids watching me cry. But this is a big thing for us, big thing." Closing down streets in Mexico's capital, fans waved flags and chanted after their team clinched the men's soccer title for the very first time. Milli...

Mexico&rsquo;s national soccer team have an arsenal of talented players, but it&rsquo;s also an aging one as well, with influential figures such as Andres Guardado, Javier &ldquo;Chicharito&rdquo; Hernandez, and Carlos Vela near the peak of their careers. With the 2018 FIFA World Cup fast approaching, here are five young emerging players who could become Mexico's next superstars.

What was meant to be a joke has turned into a PR blunder for Dutch airline KLM after it angered Mexican soccer fans by taking to Twitter to celebrate the Netherlands' dramatic comeback victory in the World Cup. Within minutes of the Netherlands' 2-1 victory over the Tri, KLM let loose on its Twitter feed a picture of an airport departures sign under the heading "Adios Amigos!" Next to the word "Departures" is the image of a man with a mustache wearing a sombrero.

For more news and videos visit ☛ http://english.ntdtv.com or Follow us on Twitter ☛ http://twitter.com/NTDTelevision Gunmen kill seven youths - and injure two - during a soccer game in Mexico's violent Ciudad Juarez. The shootings took place on the eve of a visit by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to the Mexican city of Guanajuato. Gunmen killed seven people on Sunday during a soccer game in the violent border city of Ciudad Juarez, as Mexico struggles to halt surging murders. The latest viole...

The season has two tournaments: Apertura, which starts in the summer, and Clausura, which starts in the winter. As of 2017, the league comprises 18 clubs, with one being relegated every year (two tournaments) based upon its league performances over the previous three years. The first 8 teams in the table at the end of the regular phase of the tournament qualify to the liguilla ("mini-league", or "playoff"). Until July 2011, the league was divided into 3 tiers. The group formatting was removed in favor of a single-table format.

History

Amateur era

Prior to the Liga Mayor, there was no national football league in Mexico, and football competitions were held within relatively small geographical regions. The winners of the Primera Fuerza, a local league consisting of teams near and around Mexico City, was regarded as the then national competition although there were other regional leagues, such as in Veracruz, the Jalisco and the Bajio that had talented clubs. Many club owners were keen to remain amateur although they paid players under the table. The increasing interest in football would not thwart a unified professional football system in Mexico. The professional national league was established in 1943.[12]

Professional era

The Federación Mexicana de Fútbol Asociación (F.M.F.) announcement of the nation's first professional league brought interest from many clubs to join. The F.M.F. announced that 10 clubs would form the Liga Mayor (Major League). The league was founded by six clubs from the Primera Fuerza of Mexico City, two clubs from the Liga Occidental, and two from the Liga Veracruzana.

Founding members

Reformation

Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, many small clubs faced economic difficulties which were attributed to the lack of international competition by Mexico's clubs and an unrewarding league format. Like many South American and European clubs, Mexico's clubs that placed high in the league standings could not afford to participate in prestigious international tournaments, such as the Copa Libertadores.

The Mexican league boom

The 1970 World Cup held in Mexico was the first World Cup televised on a grand scale. The season following the FIFA World Cup, the F.M.F. changed the league format and established a playoff phase to determine the national champion. This was done to regenerate interest and reward teams that placed fairly high in the standings.

The play-off, called the Liguilla, was played using various formats to determine the champion. The most common format was a straight knock-out between the top eight teams in the table. At other times the league was divided into groups with the top two in each group, often as well as the best 3rd placed teams, qualifying for the play-offs and in some seasons the play-offs themselves involved teams playing in groups with the group winners playing off for the title.. The format was changed from season to season to accommodate international club commitments and the schedule of the Mexico national team.

The change in the rules affected teams that traditionally dominated the table, as talented teams that had not performed well in the regular season were able to perform successfully in the play-offs (Cruz Azul in the 1970s, América in the 1980s, and Toluca in the 2000s).

Liga MX

Prior to the start of the 2012–13 season, the organization LIGA MX / ASCENSO MX was created to replace the Mexican Football Federation as the organizing body of the competition. The league also announced a rebranding, with the introduction of a new logo.[13]

On 20 August 2018, it was announced that Liga MX would begin testing the use of video assistant referee technology.[14] The initial test run will be conducted during under-20 matches played inside senior league stadiums, with live testing across senior Liga MX matches to take place during weeks 13 and 14 of the Apertura tournament. The league will, however, still need final approval from FIFA to fully implement the technology.[15]

Competition format

Regular season tournaments

Liga MX Trophy

Liga MX uses a single table of 18 teams that play two annual tournaments resulting in two champions per season. The season opens with the apertura tournament (opening tournament- running from July to December) followed by the clausura (closing - running from January to May). This format matches other Latin American schedules and correspond with FIFA's world footballing calendar, which "opens" in July/August and "closes" in April/May of the next year. The top eight teams progress to the liguilla for each tournament. If one of those teams is in last place in the league's relegation table (see below), that team is replaced by the team that finished ninth in the tournament.

From 1996 to 2002, the league followed a two-tournament schedule with invierno (winter) and verano (summer) tournaments but from 2002 to 2011 the 18 teams were divided into three groups of six with the top two teams from each group and the two best third place teams qualified for the liguilla. The teams played in the same group for each tournament. The qualification phase of the tournament lasted 17 weeks, with all teams playing each other once per tournament in a home and away series over both tournaments.

Playoffs (liguilla)

The liguilla (Spanish for "little league") is the play-off phase of the tournament. This phase starts with eight qualifying teams playing two-legged ties with the winner on aggregate-score progressing. The Champion team is awarded the First division trophy, and the runner up is awarded a smaller version of the trophy. The birth of La liguilla in 1970 modernized the league despite the disagreements between the traditionalists and the modernists. Clubs that were near bankruptcy were now better able to compete and generate profits.

Relegation

At the end of a season, after the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, one team is relegated to the next lower division, Ascenso MX, and one team from that division is promoted and takes the place left open by the relegated team. Currently, the relegated team is determined by computing the points-per-game-played ratio for each team, considering all the games played by the team during the last three seasons (six tournaments). The team with the lowest ratio is relegated; if the team that is in last place in relegation table is among the eight teams qualifying for the Liguilla at the end of a tournament, the ninth-place team qualifies for the Liguilla instead. For teams recently promoted, only the games played since their promotion are considered (two or four tournaments). The team promoted from Ascenso MX is the winner of a two-leg match between the champions of the Apertura and Clausura tournaments of that division. If a team becomes the champion in both tournaments, it is automatically promoted.

Prior to the start of the 2017–18 season, the rules for relegation and promotion changed: if a team wins promotion but does not meet certain Liga MX requirements (e.g. stadium infrastructure and a youth team) the relegated Liga MX team of that season will be obligated to pay the prize money to the Ascenso MX team (MXN$120 million) for winning the promotion playoff, which should be utilized to fulfill necessary requirements for promotion within the next season, and remain in Ascenso MX,[16] and the relegated Liga MX team will remain in the first division. However, if the relegated Liga MX team cannot distribute the prize money to the promoted Ascenso MX team, both teams will lose their right to play in Liga MX and must play in Ascenso MX the following season.[17]

CONCACAF Champions League Qualification

Each year, four teams from Liga MX qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League, the premier North American club competition. Generally, the Apertura and Clausura champions and the Apertura and Clausura runners-up qualify, and are placed in Pot 3. Should one or more teams reach the finals of both tournaments, Liga MX has implemented a formula for ensuring that two teams that qualify via the Apertura and two teams qualify via the Clausura:[19]

If the same two teams qualify for the finals of both tournaments, those two teams will qualify along with the non-finalists with the best record in both the Apertura and Clausura.

If the same team wins both the Apertura and the Clausura (facing two different teams in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Clausura champions is passed to the Clausura runners-up and the berth reserved for the Clausura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with best record in the Clausura. This occurred most recently in the 2013–14 season (2014–15 CONCACAF Champions League) when León (2013 Apertura and 2014 Clausura champions) and Pachuca (2014 Clausura runners-up) were placed in Pot A, while América (2013 Apertura runners-up) and Cruz Azul (non-finalists with the best record in the 2014 Clausura) were placed in Pot B (at the time, the champions and runners-up were placed in different pots).

If the Apertura runners-up win the Clausura (facing two different teams in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Apertura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with best record in the Apertura. This occurred most recently in the 2011–12 season (2012–13 CONCACAF Champions League) when UANL (2011 Apertura champions) and Santos Laguna (2011 Apertura runners-up and 2012 Clausura champions) were placed in Pot A, while Guadalajara (non-finalists with the best record in the 2011 Apertura) and Monterrey (2012 Clausura runners-up) were placed in Pot B (again, at the time, the champions and runners-up were placed in different pots).

If the Apertura champions are runners-up of the Clausura (facing two different teams in the finals of each tournament), then the berth reserved for the Clausura runners-up is passed to the non-finalists with best record in the Clausura. This has not happened since Liga MX began using this qualification procedure.

In previous years, when a team was relegated, the team that was promoted could only negotiate with the company holding the television rights of the relegated team. This agreement was canceled by Liga MX in 2012 when the promotion of Club León caused a television rights dispute with Televisa.[39] Currently, Club León matches are broadcast in Mexico by Fox Sports and other online media sites, and in the United States by Univision (Telemundo from 2013–16).[40]

Telelatino and Fox Sports World hold broadcasting rights in Canada; Fox Sports is the only network that holds rights to broadcast selected matches in United States and South America. Additionally, Televisa-owned networks Sky Sports and TDN hold exclusive broadcasting rights over selected matches throughout the regular season, although the majority of the most important ones are broadcast live on the national networks.

Most of the Saturday afternoon and evening matches broadcast by Televisa are shown primarily on Gala TV, though Saturday games played by Televisa's club America, are broadcast on Televisa's flagship network, Canal de las Estrellas. However, a blackout policy is usually applied in selected markets where affiliates are forced to air alternate programming during the matches, Sunday noon and afternoon games broadcast by Televisa are shown on Canal de las Estrellas. All of the games broadcast by TV Azteca on Saturday and Sunday are shown on Azteca 13; Friday's matches however are shown on Azteca 7. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday (known in Mexico as Fecha Doble or Double Date) matches picked by the national networks are shown on Canal 5 and Azteca 7 and the rest of the matches air on Sky Sports and TDN.

A recent rule, in effect since 2011, requires teams to play the final game of every season on Sunday during prime time, regardless of whether the team used to play local games in another timeslot, in order to capture more television audience during the game.

For the Apertura 2016, and the majority of the Clausura 2017, Guadalajara home matches in Mexico were not shown on over-the-air television or cable and satellite operators. Instead, they were exclusively shown on an internet streaming service called Chivas TV. As of April 8, 2017, the matches are shown on both Televisa's Televisa Deportes Network (TDN) and Chivas TV.

After the Clausura 2017 season, Azteca América sold the rights of the Atlas, Morelia, Tijuana, and Veracruz matches to Univision. The network then held the rights of 17 of the 18 clubs, only missing recently promoted Lobos BUAP. In September 2017, Univision began airing Lobos BUAP's home matches, thus holding the rights to all 18 Liga MX teams through the end of the Clausura 2018 season.

In October 2017, Fox Sports announced that it acquired the long-term exclusive Spanish-language rights to Tijuana and Santos Laguna home matches in the United States, Mexico, and the rest of Latin America starting in the Apertura 2018 and Apertura 2019 respectively, thus ending Univision's monopoly.[44] The matches air on Fox Deportes in the United States and Fox Sports Latin America in Mexico and the rest of Latin America.[44]

On May 26, 2018, Fox Sports announced it acquired the rights of C.F. Monterrey's home matches in the United States and Latin America.[45] The network announced the matches would be shown in the United States on Fox Deportes in Spanish as well as the Fox Sports family of networks in English.[45]

As of the Apertura 2019 season, via a sublicense agreement with Univision, ESPN Deportes airs the majority of León, Necaxa, Pachuca, Querétaro, and UANL regular season home matches in the United States. The network also airs at least one home match of nine other clubs.[46]Televisa also sublicenses one match per week to ESPN in Mexico and Central America.[47]

^For the Apertura 2016 and the majority of the Clausura 2017, Guadalajara home matches in Mexico were not shown on over-the-air television or cable and satellite operators, instead they exclusively were shown on an internet streaming service called Chivas TV. As of April 8, 2017, the matches are shown on both Televisa's Televisa Deportes Network (TDN) and Chivas TV.

^ While no agreement has been reached with a broadcaster to air Guadalajara home matches in the United States, Chivas TV, in the meantime, has offered to stream Chivas matches for free through social media.[49]

Sponsorship

BBVA México is the league's current title sponsor after the 2019 rebranding of BBVA Bancomer.

Up until its rebranding in 2012, the Liga MX did not have a title sponsor. In July 2013, league president Decio de María announced BBVA Bancomer as the official sponsor, with the goal of modernizing the league's image. De María also stated that the money generated from the sponsorship would be divided among the 18 clubs and to be invested in each club's youth teams.[50] On 18 September 2015, the sponsorship deal was extended until 2019.[51] On 18 June 2019, the league was renamed as Liga BBVA MX, adopting the new identity of the sponsor.[52] On 4 July 2019, the sponsorship contract with BBVA was renewed until 2021.[53]

Since 1986, Voit has been the official match ball manufacturer. In 2014, the contract was extended for four years.[54]